In the Space Between: A Felting Journey of Tactile Healing examines how the tactile process of wool felting can materialize the psychological transformation of pain into temporary relief. The project emerges from a long-standing skin-picking habit, which functions as both self-harm and self-soothing. This contradiction reveals the paradox between pain and healing, demonstrating that pain can also lead to positive psychological outcomes. By challenging the general assumption that pain is solely negative, this research proposes an alternative interpretation that frames pain as a catalyst for emotional repair. The central research question guiding this project is: How can the tactile process of wool felting demonstrate the transformation of pain into healing, the intangible psychological repair?
Drawing on personal embodied experience and material experimentation, the resulting exhibition presents a series of biomorphic felted forms, including works shaped through different durations of wet felting, as well as pieces that unfold through layered separation, irregular edges, and cut surfaces that reveal hidden interiors, foregrounding process over resolution. Repetitive actions such as piercing, rubbing, rolling, and shaping reflect the gradual and uneven shift from pain to healing. Variation in densities and visible traces of labour show how time and effort consolidate into form, positioning healing as an ongoing state rather than a completed outcome.
Through material engagement and embodied experience, this exhibition enters broader conversations about voluntary pain, emotional regulation, and the role of craft in emotional processing. Additionally, the exhibition offers a tangible visualization of an internal psychological cycle, proposing felting as both a method of inquiry and a site where pain becomes a catalyst for transformation.